The Rising
by Alexxya
Summary: AU-[set after 4x15] What if Kol isn't the only friend Jeremy made while he was in Denver? Find out what happens when that friend comes looking for him and what impact it has on everyone else. Damon/OC
1. Prologue

**AU-[set after 4x15] What if Kol isn't the only friend Jeremy made while he was in Denver? Find out what happens when that friend comes looking for him and what impact it has on everyone else**

**A/N: Hello! This is my first fanfiction and I hope you'll like it. I tried my best the writing and I hope you will like my main OC. She is really interesting to write and I hope you will accompany me on her journey.**

**I don't write from a specific POV. I like to do more of a character's POV in third person.**

**I have only one last thing to mention: **_if the writing is like this, then it means either A).it's a character's thoughts or B).it's used to emphasize something._

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. The story idea and my original character are mine however.**

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_Life is like the wind: you do not know where it might take you, but you have to be open-minded and no matter how bad things might turn out, you have to trust it because everything that happened, it was all for you._

The forest was dark, even in full daylight it still had its terrifying aura around it. The ground was covered in yellow-orange leaves, with a few spots where the grass-less ground revealed itself. Although almost all the trees had the same dead leaves, some of them had in their higher branches a few dark green leaves. This was definitely not the place to be, but she still found herself on the cold sand surrounding the forest- an unfortunate forest on a cursed island.

Although she had yet to enter the forest, she noticed a few traps, vampire traps. Whatever treasure this welcoming island beheld, it definitely wasn't meant for a vampire to take. But this popped the question: what drew Galen here in the first place? Also, above its dead looks, there was one more reason the island seemed so antipathetic to her. When she first saw this place on the map she had a déjà-vu, but she couldn't put her finger around as to why?

"I took take of the bout."_With no help from you, of course_ he thought but didn't say out loud. "Are you sure this is the place, Denisa?"

At the sound of his voice, Denisa turned around, fully facing him and said "I never thought you would doubt me and my powers, Jayden. "

He returned her gaze as he added "It never hurts to make sure."

She started walking and he had no choice but to follow. To say he didn't like to be near her was an understatement. This whole 'mission' started because the council didn't hear from Galen for a long time so they sent them to find him. He was there because he was a close friend of Galen and Denisa was with him because of her tracking abilities.

When he first heard of Galen disappearing, he didn't think it was that serious because he really does it all the times; he likes to hunt on his even then, he would contact somebody. But this time was different and it raised a lot of suspicion.

Jayden continued to follow Denisa closely behind. She wore a black coat and some dark jeans paired with some simple brown riding boots. Her hair was falling perfectly straight on her back; like usual. He never saw her with curls or even small waves, only the long straight dark brown hair which actually fitted her very well.

Denisa kept walking, knowing all the time that Jayden was staring at her, but she chose to ignore it. With every step, she felt that they were getting closer to where Galen was. Aside from the connection which leaded them to him, she also felt a strong connection coming from another part of the island. Since she was using her power to find him she knew for a fact that something outstanding happened to him on this island- that was where the other connection came from- , but what?

Denisa was also sure that the connection didn't point out to where Galen was, but finding him was the whole point of this 'mission' so they couldn't divert from their original route. She couldn't help herself, but feel curios. _What are you hiding, Galen?_ Either way she was going to look into it.

They kept walking until they entered a clearing of some sorts. There were still trees here and there, but it was significantly attenuated. Also, there were a few old cabins which meant that someday people had lived there or maybe they still do.

Denisa let this thought pass and continued walking, but stopped when Jayden said "There is a dead body over there."

Jayden used this opportunity to catch up to Denisa and stand on her left. "Stay here; I will go take a look."

He started walking towards the body and Denisa was by his side every moment. _You really are a stubborn one, aren't you?_ He ignored this thought and focused on finding out the cause of the death. The dead woman's neck was bitten and so was her wrist.

"Vampire attack?" asked Denisa. "This is unexpected. Do you think that Galen had anything to do with this?"

"If Galen and the vampire responsible were on the same island, then that means Galen took care of him." Jayden explained proudly, still looking at the woman's wounds. "But you are right, this is weird. Vampires are selfish creatures: they like to drink, fuck and don't care about anything else as long as they are having fun." She didn't know if she should feel offended or not. _Does he really think I don't know the definition of vampirism?_ "This place is totally the opposite of what they're used to" Jayden added while pointing around at the forest.

They started searching for survivors, but only came across dead bodies. _Looks like we aren't going to find out anything_ Denisathought as she entered one of the cabins. This one also had a dead body in it, but the woman was holding a pedant in her left hand. When she grabbed it, she suddenly felt a wave of power. _Witches, huh?_

This was an isolated village, living on an island and having a witch. Either she was the only witch and everyone else knew, or this was a village full of witches. _If that's the case, then we have a serious problem on our hands_ Denisa thought and came around the conclusion that the vampire attack wasn't an ordinary one.

She looked around the cabin and found under a pile of clothes a big book. Looking through it she found a few spells, indicating that it was a grimoire. _They so were a witch village._

After looking a little through the grimoire, she decided that it was time to head back. Realizing that it was proof that witches lived there, Denisa decided to take the grimoire with her and as for the pedant, she put it in her coat's pocket.

Denisa met up with Jayden where they split up. As she saw him she said "The villagers are witches. This is not a normal vampire attack." She pointed out to the grimoire "This wasn't hidden, it was right on the table, which means that either the human villagers knew about the witch and accepted her – which I highly doubt or everybody is… was a witch or warlock."

Jayden thought about all the information he received. If vampires attacked the place, how come he didn't found any vampire corpse? The only way vampires can kill witches is if they just found out about their magic, or if it was just one witch caught by surprise. But the grimoire present there proved that they were no beginners. Also, passing through the village he saw a few gardens which didn't look like their porpoise was to serve as food.

"We should have back, talk to the council and pick up from there."

Denisa looked at him surprised and a little annoyed "We came here to find Galen and we're not giving up just for one or a few vampires. After we get the hunter out of the island you can come with some back-up and investigate as much as you want."

She turned around and started walking as she stated "I do not want to be a part in any of that. It's not my department." Stopping she turned her head to the right and slightly rotated her body so she can watch Jayden- who remained behind- in the eyes as she said "I came here to find your missing friend. This is what I was assigned to do, not you side mission. Let's go."

Denisa started walking in the direction where she sensed Galen. Walking through a forest wasn't the usual thing she does, but the relaxing pace without any enemy trying to kill her was nice. Sure she still had to be careful to where she was stepping because of all the vampire traps, but it was nice.

The walk gave her a chance to think about coming here in the first place. When she was asked to accompany Jayden on his mission to track Galen, she immediately raised her brow. Denisa always thought Galen was a strong man who needed no babysitter, but she guessed that his people didn't trust him as much as she did. But maybe, just maybe, the main reason they wanted to make sure that he's safe was just because of that. The stronger you are, the cockier you become, you stop caring about other people's opinion and you take risks even in a simple situation. The vanity you get from people complimenting your power is your worst enemy. And people complimented Galen's hunting skills...a lot.

She sighed. There wasn't much she could do, so she kept on walking, small branches breaking under her feet. She haft expected Jayden to ask about it, but when he didn't, they just kept on walking until they reached a small hollow canal –where there probably had been water before-. On the other side was a tied body, belonging to their lost comrade. _Galen!_

They traversed it quickly; thankfully it wasn't that much of a steep hill. When they finally reached him, Jayden pulled out of his bag a health kit and while he did that, Denisa cut the rope that had the porpoise of stopping his movement, with a penknife.

"I can take care of it, you should announce the council!" Denisa said as she suddenly grabbed the kit out of his hands. She put some oxygenated water on a white towel, carefully pressing it against Galen's neck, where the deep cut was. When she was sure everything was clean, she took a bandage and wrapped it around his neck, loose enough so it wouldn't kill him, tight enough so it would stay in place.

Jayden sure wanted to argue with that, because his friend's safety was much more important than giving an announcement. He wanted, but he didn't. He couldn't pick a fight right there and then because that could be the difference between life and death for Galen.

He took his phone out of the bag. He tried calling Dylan, but the line was dead; no signal was found in that damn place! But there was still hope. He had internet on his phone, so he called him on Skype. After a few ticks, he answered.

"Hello Jayden, what's the matter are you calling me for today?" His English-accented voice sounded so casual, it drew him insane, but he held himself together.

"There isn't time for that! We found Galen and he's unconscious. Denisa is taking care of him right now". Even thought his voice hinted a little bit of desperation, he didn't care. It was his best friend they were talking about! Now that he mentions it, he noticed Denisa looking at him, a troublesome look on her face; his light brown eyes might hint that as well.

That caught Dylan of guard, because he didn't expect for a skilled hunter like Galen to be in that situation, so the only thing he managed to say was a simple "What should I do?"

"Just ask for back up. We can bring Galen to the shore, but he needs high medical attention right now" Jayden explained. After all, it was a good plan: they would come soon, have everything prepare to make sure Galen would make it out alive and most of all, they could transport him _very_ fast. "Bring a fast bout too, we will need it" he added as he passed his hand through his messy golden hair.

Dylan understood all of it and he was ready to hang up, but there still was one question floating around his head. Deciding it was crucial, he asked "Where are you?"

"Just tell somebody of a high rank about this" he said looking at Denisa who was signing to him to hurry up. "I can't talk anymore, I need to help Denisa. You just tell them what I said. They will know where to send the bout." And with that he closed the phone and came near them.

Before he called Dylan, he had a chance to take a look at Galen's wounds. Jayden had to admit, Denisa did a great job cleaning and taking care of the cut he had near his neck. Sure there were other wounds too, like the small ones around his writs which were caused by the ropes, but those didn't make almost any difference. She had taken care of the big cut and that was all that mattered.

After she bandaged Galen, she tried to wake him up. But when she shook his body and nothing happened, she came to a conclusion.

"I think he hit his head. I shook his body and didn't get a response." A hit to his head was bad, especially after all the blood loss."Did you call? When are they coming?"

"I talked to Dylan and he will contact a high-ranked hunter and he will know where to send the bouts and the medical crew"

The fact that they managed to get in touch with somebody, especially after being on an island that had no signal, was pretty impressive. Denisa was happy because the critical part of the mission was finally over and everyone would stop worrying about where Galen was. She stabilized his condition and Jayden was able to get somebody to help getting them out of there.

Jayden was happy too, but he couldn't let his guard down. If they allow themselves to get too comfortable the walk back would take more than necessary and that would end up in someone's death. That's why he finds himself saying "We need to head for the shore. There's no time telling how quick will the help come."

Denisa agreed, but there was still a spot on her mind that thought about the other place the connection was heading her to. She wanted to explore that and after all she wouldn't help Jayden in any way by coming back with him because he would be the one to carry Galen's body anyway. Also the path they were coming from was very safe the first time, so why wouldn't it be the second time?

"You need to do that." Jayden widened his eyes, but didn't interrupt. "There is no need for me to accompany you two; I will be just a third wheel. I think it's better if we just split up, so we would be more efficient." She finished her argument, waiting for his answer. Honestly, she didn't care what he would say, she was going to do whatever felt logical or she wanted.

"But… the traps….!" Jayden said, trying to come up with some idea to convince her to stay with them. The more people guarding Galen, the more the chances they wouldn't get hurt on the way home.

Denisa was definitely sure he would bring up this, so she just simply said "You are also a very high ranked hunter and a friend of Galen, I'm sure you can handle that".

The compliment caressed Jayden's small ego and gave him a bust of confidence. _Maybe it isn't that bad._ But he was still curious about one thing. "If I will go home, then where are you going?"

Because she didn't want to give much information away, she just brushed the question off by say something among the lines of "I want to check on something".

The man nodded, knowing not to push the subject more, because it was none of his business. With a quick goodbye and a 'take care', both of them headed in their particular directions.

Jayden was keeping Galen's left hand around his neck, so he could support himself and Jayden had his right hand around his waist. This 'position' was efficient because he wasn't dragging him around and if Galen woke up he would have a support point.

Their walk towards the shore was uneventful, as Denisa said. Jayden managed to dodge the traps, so they quickly arrived at their original bout. The bad part of all of it was that Galen didn't wake up. But the fact that the medical crew was bound to arrive soon enough; it gave him enough reassurance not to worry about his friend's life or death situation.

While Jayden was making his way back, Denisa was heading the opposite direction. Because she didn't have that moron to worry about, she could quicken her pace. She dodged all the traps as they were nothing. However, passing through so many made her rise a question tag. What was there so important that needed that much level of protection?

Denisa was soon to find out as she came closer to the place where something 'life changing' happened to her follow comrade. The nature seemed to shift a little bit, from the green tip tops to only a few dark leaves making the color of the branches pop up.

She came closer to a cave and decided to take a look inside. After all, she made the entire trip down there; she wasn't going to stop only because there was an obstacle. Lucky enough, there was already a rope attached so she could easily make her way in and out of that dark abyss.

Taking hold of the rope Denisa jumped, not knowing what awaited her inside of there. But no matter how ready was a monster to attack her, she was as ready to fight back.

She went around the caves, everything looking almost the same, until after taking a right, she finally met the source of the connection: a room with a big table –if you could call it that- in the middle, some blood on the floor and a bag that she guessed, it was Galen's.

The first thing she did was checking the bag's interior to make sure it belonged to the person she guessed it would. After seeing some rope, a cross bow and a few other vampire hunter material, she decided that her guess was right. That didn't stop her from continuing to look inside it though. She was hoping to come across some clues about what happened to him, but sadly, she didn't. However she did find something in one small pocket of the bag, Galen's phone. _That might come in handy in the future._

Denisa thought about it for a second. If someone took her phone, she would be very pissed because all her contacts, all her appointments were memorized in there. But what would piss her off even more is never getting it back. Denisa guessed Galen felt the same; after all they did spend quite some time together.

That was one of the main reasons she wanted to get his phone. She definitely would give it back to him… eventually. _Now that I even consider it, Galen should thank me. If it weren't for me his phone would be lost forever._ She thought and couldn't help but chuckle a little even though what she was doing made perfectly sense.

After dealing with that silly issue, Denisa put a serious face on. Looking at the blood on the floor the first thing she noticed was that it was relatively fresh. Also as far as the problem surrounding who the owner might have been, her first guess was that it belonged to someone who died. But that raised another question: where was the body? She wandered around quite a lot before finding the chamber, so a dead body laying on the floor somewhere was out of question.

The person had to be alive, but there was _a lot_ of blood. The same person was probably healed by a vampire or maybe one of the witches in the small village gave a hand. Having enough of the guessing, she finally came to the conclusion that she had to find the person so she could have strict information about what happened.

_To be honest, that is quite easy. _The most highly-spirited object of one person isn't their car, favorite book or T-shirt, it is their blood. So, having someone's blood was making it way easier to find them than Galen. All she had to find him was one of his shirts who had been laying in his room at the dormitory.

She placed her hand on the ground, taking some of the blood on her hand. The first thing she felt was another wave of power almost like the dead woman's one, but stronger. That pitched her interest because there was a huge part of her that believed that the witch present there and the dead one weren't from the same family. Brushing those thoughts away she began to concentrate on the more important matter, finding where the witch was.

After a few seconds of focusing, Denisa knew where she would be heading next. _Easy as a piece of cake_ she thought as she got up. After spending so much time on the island and especially in the dark cave, she just wanted to finish her research and get out. _Probably Jayden_ _and Galen are already out on the sea, while I'm here sacrificing myself to know what happened to the so careless expert hunter._ She sighed. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

The last thing to examine in the room was the big 'table'. She came closer to it, brushing her hands over its edges, slowly making her way towards the center. She was doing it so slowly because she wanted to pick up any signals that would give her clues about who was the owner of the table or who was the last person to touch it or anything for that matter. She guessed it was untouched for a long time because there was dust near the edges, dust that her hand had gone over. Centering all her power in her hands to find out something wasn't nearly as easy as it might have looked; it was hard, tiring even.

After some time she stopped, Denisa's eyes widening in revelation. She felt somebody's soul she had met before coming to the island. Even if it was hard to believe, the little _human_ boy she met only some months ago, who she could easily call 'friend' was there. As shocked as she was, there was one single name that filled all her mind.

Jeremy.

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**A/N: Thanks for sticking until the end of the prologue! You probably already know what the first real chapter will be about so tune in for next one :)**

**Your reviews give me the power to write more and faster. So for a sooner update tell me what you think, review ;)**


	2. Chapter 1 Discovery

**A/N: There it goes: the first chapter of the story! I center myself around one chapter every week; however don't be surprised when you might see two. Just to make it clear, there's going to be at the least one.**

**I want to specially thank ****kelevraxm ****for being the first person to follow my story! Hopefully the first to many more that have yet to come.**

**Anyway, enough rambling, have fun reading the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. The story idea and my original character are mine however.**

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Every moment you spend trying to come up with an excuse, it only makes the matter worse. You should be honest and if you keep trying to avoid the real matter, it will only bring you down. At the least that's what Denisa thought when talking to Lisa, the receptionist at the hotel. Lisa was too stubborn to admit she forgot to have somebody wake her up at 9 AM as she specially requested. Although Denisa already had an alarm set up for 10 AM –which was suppose to remind her to go to the gas station-, she couldn't help but feel frustrated at the woman's lies and even more at her need to prove her own point. Maybe she was thinking about saving the hotel's reputation, but her behavior was only destroying it.

'I already told you Miss. Downright, nobody called last night to inform me about waking up early in the morning' Lisa added in a defensive voice. After finishing what she just said, her light blue eyes were avoiding Denisa's dark brown ones. By her body language someone could easily tell that she, herself had trouble believing the things that came out of her mouth.

Releasing a sigh because she was behind schedule, she realized that ending the annoying discussion was recommended in order to stop wasting time. Despite knowing that her voice was showing her anger, Denisa stated 'You know what? If you want to keep lying that's fine, but when I won't be coming back to this hotel tonight, don't wonder why.' She should have felt bad because, by the looks in the woman's eyes, that hurt her, but she didn't signed up for this treatment.

After finishing what she had to say, she turned and started to walk towards the door that was suppose to free her from the hotel and its annoying receptionist. She didn't get too far before she heard Lisa say, with an apologizing voice, much softer than the one before 'I am sorry Miss., I never meant to lie to you, but last night was really tough for me.' Denisa had to admit that she appreciated the woman's courage to apologize so she stopped and turned her body, fully facing her.

Lisa stopped, deciding wherever she should continue or not, but seeing Denisa shift, she did. 'I have received a call last night from the Sheriff, telling me that a friend of mine who was coming to visit me was found badly injured on the road, near her car.' A pause. Her body was trembling a little, causing her dark blond curls to shake a long with her. The fact that they were caught in a complicated bun didn't stop them from showing the horror Lisa felt.

Denisa could see that the woman was still terrified by the news, so she tried to give her a concerning smile, which worked really well because she continued 'It was some kind of animal attack and she said it was a miracle she was even alive. From what I know she lost a lot of blood and she was supposed to get a transfusion last night….'

Denisa wanted to hear the last of the woman's story, but something caught her interest. That's why she interrupted her asking 'Animal attack? Do they know what kind of animal?' Her voice must have been a little too enthusiastic because Lisa got a little uncomfortable. However, that didn't stop her from answering it with a quick shake of the head.

She knew it wasn't nice to find out that a friend or a family member was murdered by an animal. She had seen it before many times. What was the worst wasn't their death; it was the fact that for the rest of their lives they would believe a lie. They would think that the criminal was an animal, but little did they know it was 100% human; or at least had some human resemblance.

Lisa's best friend's death didn't make Denisa feel worried or sad, it only raised her anger and also made her roll her eyes. _As much as they brag about it, the vampires hunters don't do shit. _

She should have shown some emotion towards Lisa's case, but it didn't feel right. Showing that would only make you vulnerable and being a vulnerable hunter only lowers your hunting capacities which results in even more deaths. Despite all that thinking, she didn't even have a reason to feel guilty; it wasn't her department after all.

Noticing that Lisa started to shift in her sit feeling really nervous, Denisa tried her best to transform her enthusiastic voice into a worried one as she asked 'Do these attacks occur often and what happened with the transfusion?'

The receptionist took a deep breath as she continued 'Yes, all the time. But more in recent period, some of us say that the animal reproduced and it needs more food for the babies.'

The way she was thinking wasn't bad, because new vampires appear all the time and they feel the desperation for blood more than an older vampire does. The feeling leads most of the times to a lot of deaths and discloser. The fact that nobody caught them made Denisa think of three options: a).They have someone to cover their tracks, b).They compelled the people in town or c). They are very damn lucky.

'Unfortunately, there was no more blood in the bank for my friend and we are waiting to see if she recovers. The hospital requested some blood from the hospitals in the towns nearby, but they also don't have any left.' Lisa looked down, trying to decide if she had gone too far with explaining her problems to Miss. Downright. It did make her day way brighter because of sharing the terrible feelings, but she couldn't abuse more Miss. Downright and her already lost time. However she added 'I am going to visit her today, we are hoping for the best, but there aren't many chances.'

The missing blood got Denisa thinking. If there had been so much blood missing and a lot of animal attacks, why didn't any hunter know about this? She considered telling the council, but then she thought _if they are not smart enough to find out about this, then they shouldn't. I am not even in this town for that._

Denisa turned around to leave but stopped to say 'I am sorry for your misfortune, but you have to have faith. See you tonight'. She was already going out the door, but she could feel Lisa's mood lighten up. _A good deed in the morning isn't going to kill anyone._

When she finally exited the hotel she felt better. The sun was shining, but the temperature wasn't too hot; it was exactly how she liked it, the perfect weather to go visit a friend. She went towards the parking lot, looking for her car. She arrived late last night so the memory of the place where she parked it was a little fuzzy. However, when she spotted a grey C70 Volvo, she knew where to go.

Getting into her car, Denisa started to make her way towards the gas station as the alarm reminded her. Lucky enough, it wasn't too far away so she had enough gas to make it there.

Arriving at the station, she let the employee do his work while she went to pay.

The man at the counter said a number and she gave him the money. She wasn't paying attention at what the exact amount was, because she knew it was enough money.

'Here's the change' he said while his eyes were looking at her from head to the last part visible on the other side of the counter. He was definitely checking her out.

She had to admit, her clothes were a little different from her usual ones. She wore a black tank top paired with some light jeans. Along with that she added some black sandals. She picked such dark colors in order to highlight her really pale skin and the jeans were there to bring a lot of focus on her legs.

However the clothes weren't the biggest change, it was the fact that she had curls which fell loosely on her back. When she used to spend time with Jeremy she always had curls and she didn't want to make it seem like something big changed.

Leaving the gas station, Denisa started driving towards Jeremy's address which was noted in her telephone. She wondered what his reaction would be to seeing her, would he be surprised, happy, shocked? He, of course, would ask her why she came there and she would say she wanted to see him. Eventually she would find a way to ask him about his topical trip on the island and she would find out what happened and why he was there. Everything would be great!

Even when Denisa was back on the island, she wondered if Jeremy knew about the supernatural or if he knew a supernatural creature. The only thing she was sure of was that Jeremy was human; however there was a huge part of her that believed that he didn't come to the island for a holiday. What was even more suspicious was the fact that the witch -whose blood was in the cave- was here, in Mystic Falls.

Denisa originally planned to visit Jeremy first because he was a friend and human nonetheless. It was easier to deal with a human than a witch. Imagine her surprise when she was driving towards Mystic Falls and the feeling of getting closer to the witch was growing. When she arrived in the town she knew that the witch was there, but it was too late at night to search for her and she wanted to sleep.

_Bottom line is that I am going to see Jeremy first anyway and then take a look at the witch._ She was happy with her decision because, in a way, she missed Jeremy too.

Arriving at the destination, it was anything but what she expected. Instead of a one story high house, there was the remaining of a burned one, the ashes still hanging around. That got Denisa a little creeped out, so she immediately checked her phone to see if that was the right address.

Getting her confirmation there was only one last thing she could do: ask for their new address. Sure she could call Jeremy, but that would ruin the surprise.

So Denisa walked towards the house placed on the other side of the road and she began knocking on the door. Soon enough, an old lady showed up a little surprised, perhaps she wasn't expecting any guests.

'I am sorry for disturbing you, Ma'am but I want to ask you something' seeing she wasn't interrupted she continued 'Do you know where the family living there moved?' She asked pointing out at the burned house.

The old woman arranged her glasses and looked over Denisa's shoulder to the house she was pointing at. Finally she said 'The Gilberts?' but stopped when she saw the flicker in the guest's eyes. 'I don't know where she lives now, but it must be really hard for her'

Denisa raised a brow at the woman's answer. _Maybe she is confusing people… crazy old lady! _

'No that's... Sorry for misinforming you. I am looking for Jeremy Gilbert; do you know where I can find him?' Denisa said, trying to clear the misunderstanding.

The lady looked weird at the person before her, but soon enough her eyes widened in revelation. She took a deep breath preparing for the worst. Eventually she said 'Jeremy Gilbert died in a fire this week. Out of all the Gilberts only his sister, Elena is alive.'

Silence was the only thing that was around them when the woman finished her sentence, the only thing that Denisa registered, no birds singing, no dogs barking, only the horrible and criminal silence. There was still a part of her that hanged onto hope.

_Maybe she's joking; maybe this is April fools for old people. Jeremy can't be dead!_

Despite all her hopes, she still found herself asking for reinsurance with an almost whispered 'Dead?' She wasn't crying, but the sound of her voice scared her. It felt drained, almost hopeless.

The woman didn't say anything, she just nodded her head. Receiving what she wanted, she felt as the whole world crashed on her shoulders. Denisa just looked in front of her, her eyes not focusing on anything. It had been a while since she felt that way. This time was different though because there wasn't even a tear forming in her eyes, they only shone with pain.

After a while her eyes became dull: she came from the hurt girl to full detective mode. The determination flew through her. _I am going to find out who did this Jeremy, I promise._

Denisa turned around and started making her way towards the car. She was leaving without saying 'goodbye' or 'thank you'; it didn't feel appropriate to do so. She hoped that the lady would understand and when she didn't protest or anything, she knew that it didn't disturb her.

As she drove on the road, Denisa soon found herself back at the hotel. Her mind was really absent, still shocked from the news. There was a part of her which was frustrated at her. What did she think? That Jeremy would take a random trip to an island, have a witch almost die next to him and then just go home? She was so happy to get a chance to see Jeremy that it blurred her rationality.

_That will no longer be the case._

The first thing she did was going to her room, changing the cherish outfit and dressing up as a real detective out on the hunt would.

When that was all done, she took a look in the mirror. Instead of the black tank top and the light jeans, she wore a pair of black pants which ended right under her knee and a white laced tank top. She changed the black sandals with some white high heel sandals. On top of that she added a black jacket with puffed sleeves. The outfit was serious enough to give her some respect when she would go researching Jeremy's death.

Looking at herself in the mirror something didn't look right; something was out of place. She sat there wondering what could give her such a feeling, when the answer hit her: _the hair!_

That was easily fixed by catching it in a high pony tail. Deciding that everything looked alright she headed towards the exit of the hotel.

However, she stopped to ask Lisa where the police station was. Thankfully, she didn't ask any question and only gave her the address along with some indications.

Soon enough, she found herself in front of the police station. Turns out it wasn't that far to begin with. Mystic Falls was really a small town…

* * *

**A/N: Sorry that it is shorter than the prologue (which is rather weird) but if I continued with her research this chapter would have been a lot longer. And believe when I say a lot, I mean a lot.**

**Also this might seem a little boring, but you have to keep in mind that Denisa didn't meet anyone from the 'gang'. She barely found out that Jer's dead. It might seem like a slow approach, but believe me, things will change when Denisa meets the members of the gang.**

**That brings a question for you guys, who do you think it will be the first person from the gang that Denisa meets? **

**Anyway, see you next chapter and hopefully you guys will give me reasons to post more often.**


	3. Chapter 2 Research

**A/N: A new chapter! That's always a good thing to hear. Hope you enjoy Chapter 2 and I hope that it makes up for the last week's chapter which was very short.**

**Also I want to thank ****NifadaDraculEadred**** for giving me my first review! Yay! I'm so happy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. The story idea and my original character are mine however.**

* * *

Denisa started to climb the marble stairs which lead to the entrance to the police station. Walking up the steps, she couldn't help but look around at the exterior of the place. The red brick used for the walls contrasted well with the white ones used for the foundation. It drew the attention and added focus on the importance of the building.

Aside from the fancy stair and the nice colors, there was one more thing that stood out: the huge columns connected by some big arches. They were shading the marble stairs, making the simple double wooden doors way fancier.

But the exterior of the building wasn't what made it special, it was the people inside. Sure thing, there was a lot of action going on, police officers going in and out the doors.

She took a break from admiring the building and actually stepped inside of it. She was greeted by a huge room, with light wooden floor, some decorative things like flowers and flags and a few doors. Along with that, in front of the entrance there was a big wooden staircase which added a lot of elegance to the otherwise boring room.

Denisa had to admit, out of all the police stations she had seen; this one had some style to it. However, she wasn't sure about the huge windows near the entrance.

_Weren't police stations supposed to be more secretive?_ She raised her shoulders knowing that she wasn't in the place to question Mystic Falls' architecture.

Denisa looked around; _how do I go about finding the secretariat?_ _I could play hide and seek and try to find it, but that would take too much time. _Deciding that it would be inefficient to do that, she just picked a random cop and asked him for directions.

He was silent for a minute, probably debating on wherever he should or not say anything, but gave a shrug and explained 'Facing the stairs, you take a left, then walk down the hallway and then another left.'

Focusing on remembering the directions, she said a quick 'Thank you' and started to head towards the secretariat. Soon enough, she found herself in front of some dark plain wooden doors. She knocked carefully for a few seconds and when she heard a 'Come in' from the other side of the door, she walked into the secretariat.

The room wasn't very big, but big enough to serve its porpoise. As well as the other places in the police station, it was decorated with many flowers, flags and some cabinets; this one also had a desk where the secretary sat waiting for her. She wore a white work shirt and her short dark hair was embracing her facial features.

Her hazel eyes were following Denisa as she sat down on one of the chairs placed in front of the desk. She arranged a few papers on the desk, waiting until the guest settled down.

'So what brings you here, to the police station, Miss.?' Her voice was calm, collected, way different than Lisa's soft voice when she had apologized.

The woman didn't give Denisa a chance to answer as she said 'Oh… I am sorry, where are my manners?' a little embarrassed by her impoliteness. 'My name is Addison Ellis and I am the secretary at the police station.'

Denisa wanted to raise a brow at the woman's need to present herself, but she didn't because it would lead to a lot of weird useless conversation. Instead she said 'it's nice to meet you, Miss. Ellis. My name is Denisa Downright and I…'

Denisa was suddenly interrupted by Addison. 'Denisa Downright; the famous detective?' Her voice was giving away the shock, surprise and hope she was feeling. When Denisa nodded in response, her heart skipped a beat. She always wanted to meet some of the smartest detectives walking the earth and to think that one of them was sitting there, in front of her desk was giving her a lot of feels.

Finally, after a few moments of silence, Addison managed to say 'H-how can I help you? Is there anything you need?' She was freaking out and the only way they were going to get somewhere was if she calmed down.

Taking a few deep breaths and realizing how stupid she acted, Addison excused herself 'I am sorry, I don't know where that came from.'

Denisa sighed at Addison's moment to freak out over nothing. Still, she said 'I want you to give me a list of all the deaths that occurred in the last month.'

'I am sure that can be arranged, but If I may ask, what do you need those for, Miss. Downright?' Addison said -to Denisa's surprise and as well as hers- in a very calm and collected voice.

That was the part Denisa was dreading. She didn't want to raise suspicions by just asking for Jeremy's file and she also wanted to take a look at how many 'animal attacks' have occurred. She didn't want to lie, but there was no other way around it.

'This must be kept a secret.' She said, lowering her voice to emphasize it. As the girl nodded her head she continued 'I am doing a research on the deaths that occurred in more secluded places. I think that they might lead to a piece of the puzzle to find… a certain criminal.'

Addison started to worry, if they had such a good detective try to track a criminal, then that must mean that the situation was serious. She didn't stay too much on thought before she said 'I will bring a table with the name of the people who died, the date and how they did; it will be focused only on the least month, as you requested.'

_Well… that was quick._ Denisa looked at Addison, surprised by how serious she took the situation, despite her freaking out a few moments ago. Maybe that was one of her weak spots and while in a police station you don't really see a lot of people you're fanatic about. She bet apart from the little incident, Addison was calm, smart and even funny. Of course she couldn't show the last trait because of her job, but it was still present there.

However, what made Denisa rise a question tag was how fast the woman believed everything she said. _Is that the way the police staff handle things around the place? I guess I will have to change my opinion about it…_

After a few minutes, Addison presented her with a newly printed paper which had all the information she needed. Denisa took it and started to look through the pages, but not too long after that she found herself interrupted by the woman standing on the other side of the desk 'I don't want it to seem like I am no trusting you, because I do, but….. 'She stopped and looked very embarrassed as she continued 'Can you give me your ID?'

Denisa smiled trying to make her feel better. 'I was wondering when you would ask me that actually…' That didn't help at all; it only made Addison feel worse about the situation. 'It's okay; here it is' she said as she took the ID out of her purse and handed it to her.

Denisa went back to studying the papers, but she gave Addison a quick glance to see what she was doing, only to find her inspecting the ID, probably to make sure it wasn't fake. _Clever girl…_

She looked through the pages, noticing the big number of animal attacks that started to rise as she made her way towards the present day. Lisa was right. However, how came no one had looked through the pages and not noticed something weird? Was the town even doing anything about the animals?

'Is there a team assigned to hunt these animals? Is the town's mayor or sheriff doing anything to find out what is the animal causing the problem?' Denisa found herself asking Addison, wishing to see what a normal's person point of view on the situation would be.

'I don't know. We didn't even hear the new mayor talk about this problem in public and as for the sheriff, she has more important things to do.' Addison answered and realized that the last part sounded bad and by the look Denisa gave her, it really sounded bitchy. 'I didn't say she doesn't care, she just has… a lot of work. For instance, she is trying to figure out who is the person or the gang who stole the blood from the hospitals.'

After a few seconds of thinking about all the new information she received, she said 'That sounds understandable.'

Denisa sat there for a few seconds, not looking at the table or anything in particular. There was something Addison said that peaked her interest, but she couldn't exactly figure out what. _She told that probably no one is dealing with the animals, that the sheriff is busy looking for the blood stealers and that the new mayor never talked... wait... New?_

'Did you say 'new' mayor?'

Addison waited for a second, trying to remember what she had just said about Mr. Bennett. 'I did. Is there a problem?' She said, but before Denisa had the chance to answer she added 'Mr. Bennett isn't a bad person, he's just been away from the town and his daughter for a long time.'

'I am not trying to say anything bad about Mr. Bennett, but I want to know, for how long has he been the mayor?'

Addison shrugged before she said 'For about two months, I don't know for sure.'

And with that the conversation between Denisa and Addison died off.

Denisa went back to studying her papers. Sure enough, Jeremy's name was on the list telling that he died this week because of a fire started in his house. She didn't even look to see if there were other people who died in a similar way, she didn't care. She came to the police station to find out what happened to Jeremy, not some other person.

To see his name on the list really saddened her and the reality of the situation finally sank in. He was dead. And he wasn't coming back; not as a human at least. Although she was really sad on the inside, she was sure that on the outside her face remained as serious and concentrated as before.

The worse thing was that Denisa didn't even know how he died. She was sure that the stupid report was a big fat lie. She couldn't even contact him on the other side because he was human. Humans don't get stuck on the other side.

However, she will find out. She will get the information out of the witch or Galen, no matter the price.

After looking at the table for a few more minutes, she finally said to Addison 'Can you bring me the folder for… Jeremy Gilbert?' She nodded and went to one of the cabinets and after a few seconds of searching around, she returned with it.

The file was neat and organized. On the first page there was his photo and some information about him like his name, address and other things. On the second page there was a full report from the doctor who examined his body. The next page consisted in some witnesses' declarations and on the last page there were listed some names from where you could get information.

After getting a quick look at the contents of the file, she began studying it in more detail. However, before skipping to the second page, she spent a few seconds looking at his picture. He looked so young and innocent and alive. _It's been a while since I've seen you Jeremy; I just wished it wasn't through a photo._

Denisa let that thought go as she skipped to the next page. The doctor's report wasn't that long. It explained the levels of burns he had on his body. It also explained that they researched his blood and other parts of the body to identify the cause of the death. He was perfectly healthy, so the guilty one was indeed the fire.

The report was written by Meredith Fell, a doctor at the Mystic Fall's hospital. Denisa made a mental note to check the hospital's report on Jeremy's situation later.

The witnesses' declarations were about how they noticed the fire not too late after it started, how they call the police and firemen and how no one neither saw nor talked to Jeremy that day. In one of the articles it was also mentioned that the firemen are still researching, trying to find out the cause of the fire.

Getting to the last page, she examined the names: Elena Gilbert, Stefan Salvatore, Damon Salvatore and Liz Forbes. She had no idea who those people were… well maybe except for Elena Gilbert, which was probably his sister. When she and Jeremy spent time together in Denver, he didn't talk about his family in Mystic Falls. However, he did mention her ones or twice when she had called.

Denisa couldn't spend much time wondering around, so she got straight to the simple, but very important question: 'Who are these people?'

'Elena Gilbert is Jeremy Gilbert's sister and she is in her senior year at the same high school Jeremy went. 'Denisa was surprised by Addison's knowledge of a teenager's life, but she guessed it was normal in a town like Mystic Falls.

'His sister? Where does she live now?' Denisa asked although she could clearly see the address on the file; it was the same as the other's two dudes.

Addison answered quickly, fully captivated by the subject 'She lives with her boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore'. By the look Denisa gave her, it seemed like she had just told an unknown fact. To clarify the subject, she added 'The Gilbert family is a real tragedy. Elena lost all her family in the course of less than two years. The people in town feel really bad for her, but a few months after her parents died, she seemed to had come back to life.'

Denisa was probably surprised by how strong the connections were in the town, so Addison continued proudly 'We saw them together a lot, walking and holding hands, but that's not the main reason why we believe that they are dating, the way Elena smiles since she met him is.'

She smiled happily to have the chance to talk so proudly of her town, but she realized that she might have exaggerated a little. 'I don't know how many of use noticed, but I did.' Denisa looked at her amazed by the solidarity between the people of Mystic Falls, it really was amazing. And what was even more surprising, was Addison's depth in character.

'That and I also see them make out at the Mystic Grill.'

_Never mind._

_That answers that question._ But there still were two more people she didn't know anything about and she would like know more stuff about Stefan too.

'What's the deal with this guy, Stefan Salvatore?' she asked hoping that the gossip girl Addison would know that too.

Lucky enough, she did. 'Stefan is Elena's boyfriend. He's family is one of the founder's one. He is also at the same high school with Elena and I think he is also in his senior year.'

_Interesting._

'What about the other guy, Da..m…on Salvatore? She said struggling to pronounce his name. _It's much more complicated when you say it from your memory, rather than just read it!_

Addison looked at her, her eyes sparkling from thinking about him. She closed her eyes as she spoke 'Damon Salvatore is Stefan's older brother; he doesn't go to the high school. He's very hot, there was even an article about him in the newspaper called 'Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelor'.' Denisa looked at Addison weird because of how she has acting. _What's so special about this guy?_

'He lives with his brother and now Elena at that address. Many women have tried to win him over, but…' she said after taking a few deep breaths.

However Denisa interrupted her, because she was not in the mood to hear about a cocky dude. 'I don't need that piece of information, but thank you anyway.' Addison had already opened her eyes and she was watching Denisa as she said 'And Liz Forbes?'

'She's the sheriff in the town, although we don't usually call her Liz. Most of us, if not all, call her by 'Sheriff Forbes'.'

Denisa leaned back in the seat, trying to assimilate the new information. It all made sense though. Elena was Jeremy's sister, so contacting her made sense. Also Stefan is her boyfriend and Damon his brother, contacting one of them was probably another way to get to Elena. And as for Sheriff Forbes, it was obvious.

Denisa looked at the clock on the wall and it read '3:50 PM'. She spent quite some time at the police station and it was time to go. However, there was still a thing she wanted to ask Addison.

'Well it's 03:50 PM and I have to go, but I want to ask you something. Can you please make me a copy of Jeremy's file and as well as add some photos of the people I can contact -because I don't know any of them-?

Addison smiled and nodded. She rose from her chair, but before she went across the room to the printer she added 'While I do that, can you please sign this paper? It's a notification that you asked for the table and as well as Jeremy Gilbert's file.'

Denisa blinked a few times not imagining that after Addison agreed to keep it a secret, she would ask her to sign such thing. Now that she thought about it, when did she even write that? _Probably when I was looking at Jeremy's file…sneaky girl!_

She didn't address the problem though. Not before a few minutes passed and she returned with the copy and the pictures. 'I thought we agreed on something; that this would be a secret.'

Addison looked at her with some puppy eyes. She didn't expect Denisa to react so harsh to her request, so she said, a little scared by her tone 'I-I will, but this is my job. Can't we just send the notification over a month so you have enough time to research, Miss. Downright?'

Denisa thought about it for a second. It would be a very smart tactic if she was really trying to catch a criminal. 'That is a smart tactic. Sure… we'll go with that.'

Denisa got up from the chair, taking the copy, pictures and as well as her ID. She put the ID in her jacket's pocket and as for the other stuff, she folded it and carried it in her hand.

'Thank you for helping, I really appreciate that you not just shared the files with me, but your knowledge of the town too.' Denisa said while smiling softly. Addison returned her smile and suddenly the door of the secretariat opened, only to reveal a woman with short blond hair dressed in a cop outfit.

'Is everything okay here?' She asked suspiciously as she noticed the papers in Denisa's hand.

'Everything's fine; I was just about to leave.' Denisa answered with a serious tone, a little surprised by the sudden question. However, she added as she put her hand on the door's knobble 'Thank you and goodbye.'

* * *

Surprisingly, it wasn't hard for Denisa to find her way out of the police station. As she did, she started to make her way towards her car and soon, the hospital.

Sheriff Forbes turned her body to look at the stranger as she left. _What was she doing in here? _

Feeling the need for some answers, she stated to question Addison 'Who was that woman and what did she want?' Her voice might have been a little too strong; because she found Addison looking worried at her before she answered.

'She was Denisa Downright and came here to do some research.' Sheriff ignored the fact that a detective like her had been in a town like this and before she had the chance to ask what kind of research she could do, Addison said 'She wanted a table with all the deaths that happened in the last month and also she took a particular look at Jeremy Gilbert's file.'

Liz sighed, the last thing she needed was for a detective to research his file, especially after the way he died. She didn't stress herself out too much, Denisa wouldn't find anything anyway.

'She also requested to keep this a secret because she is doing the research to find a connection with a criminal.' Addison said and was about to laugh at the face Sheriff Forbes made. 'It's real; she is trying to figure out the 'last piece of the puzzle'.'

Liz wanted to laugh at the detective's need to research the death list in a place secluded like Mystic Falls, but it wasn't up to her to do it. After all she was famous for a reason.

She looked on the desk and noticed a notification. 'So what is she going to do about that?' She said while pointing at the desk.

Addison answered quickly; she wasn't used to this kind of pressure, so she wanted everything to be back to peace and quiet 'She said we could sent it a month later so it will through people who track her off.'

Liz had to admit, it was a smart approach. However, she didn't spend more time thinking about it; after all it wasn't her case to win. So she quickly took the notifications of the day from Addison, said 'goodbye' and made her way up to her office up the main stairs.

She was supposed to meet Stefan there, to question him about the missing blood at all the hospitals. What they were doing was dangerous and she wanted to put a stop to it before it exposed all of them, including her daughter.

A few minutes later, Stefan entered her office, carefully closing the door behind him.

'What did you call me for, Liz?' Stefan said while looking suspiciously at her.

'Let's get straight to the point. Do you know who stole all the blood supply from the town's hospital and also from the towns in the similar area?' Liz was frustrated. The time was ticking; every wrong move could mean the end to her daughter. If the situation got even worse, they could reach a point when Caroline would have to leave for a long time and Liz didn't want that.

'Wait, are you accusing us?' Stefan said a little surprised. He thought that they reached a point in their friendship that they wouldn't question each other.

'No Stefan, but with a humanity-less vampire walking around anything can be possible.' She added really angered by the fact that she even had to say those words.

Stefan, of course, jumped in her defense 'Elena didn't do anything, I am sure. None of us did.'

Supporting herself on the desk, she said 'I am worried Stefan. If blood bags keep disappearing and houses keep burning things are going to get bad. There is only so much animal attacks until people realize what's really going on.' She stopped letting the words she said sink in. 'Everyone will be in danger, including my daughter.'

Getting no response from Stefan she said 'I am sorry, I know it's not your fault, it's been a rough week.' Liz took a deep breath as she continued 'Miranda Gilbert was one of my best friends in high school and seeing what is happening with her family is just...'

Stefan stood there and looked at her. He felt really bad that Liz worried so much, but, after all, the worse thing is to see your child get hurt. 'Look Liz… if there's anything I can do to help, I promise I will.'

Liz smiled as she said 'Thank you, is just that Jeremy died, there is someone stealing all the blood and on top of that suddenly a famous detective decides to research Jeremy's file. This is quite a lot for just a single week.' Liz exhaled as she was letting go of something, it was good to have someone to share what you're feeling with.

Stefan only smiled in return, happy to see Liz open up. Although, he still asked 'Detective?'

Liz shrugged and said 'It's nothing important; she isn't going to find anything anyway.' Downright wasn't their problem then, it was someone else. 'Who do you think would be so reckless to steal all the blood bags from the hospital?'

Stefan thought about the potential suspects, only to find the list empty. 'I think that there are some random vampire passing through town, I mean it happens all the time. If they get out of hand, we can handle them.'

Liz sighed, maybe she really was exaggerating. Stefan was probably right; the guilty one was just a simple vampire passing by…

* * *

The hospital in Mystic Falls was a really huge building. It had white walls and many very big windows which let the sunlight shine in the rooms or hallways. There was a lot of action going on, people moving from room to room.

It seemed like a typical day for the Mystic Falls' hospital. They probably already got used to the big number of injured or on-the-death bed people. There was a part of her which wondered how much time there is left until the people in town unite to fight against those 'animals'.

Even though it was an interesting thought, Denisa let it slide as she made her way to the main counter. She was greeted by a lady with short light brown hair and dark brown eyes.

'Hello, with what can I help you?' Her voice was light, very optimistic, probably to raise the mood for the people in the hospital.

'I am Denisa Downright and I am a detective. Currently, I am doing a research to find clues that might lead to a certain criminal.' The woman's eyes examined her curiously probably having some doubts about what she had just heard; however she didn't say anything giving Denisa an opportunity to continue. 'I want to take a look at Jeremy Gilbert's file.'

The woman put her hand under her chin, resting her head. Eventually she said 'How do I know that what you're saying is true?'

Denisa sighed on the interior; she didn't really expect any questioning. _Damn, she is shrewd,_ _but it doesn't hurt to improvise a little does it? Also it would double as practice as well._

'I think this would be enough proof to show you I'm not lying.' Denisa said as she handed her the copy of Jeremy's file from the police. Along with that she passed her ID card.

The nurse looked carefully at the papers: they had the same structure as a usual file would and they also had the Mystic Falls' police station stamp. There was also the possibility of robbery, but she knew Sheriff Forbes well enough to be sure no one would gain information that she wasn't aware of.

After looking at the copies, she threw a quick look over her ID: Denisa Downright._ Seems oddly familiar _she thought, but couldn't place where or when she heard the name before.

'Very well then, I will lead you to the room.' She said as she returned Denisa her possessions. When the woman went ahead of her, Denisa couldn't help but smirk. _Everything is going perfect, exactly as I wanted._

After walking around the white hallways for a while, they stopped in front of a blue door. The woman pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. The room was dark, but it wasn't too dark for Denisa not to notice the big cabinets with shelves full of files.

'Wait right here, I will bring Jeremy Gilbert's file to you.' She said as the woman started to walk in a particular direction, probably already knowing the layout of the room.

It didn't take long until she returned with it and she motioned to Denisa to follow her. The nurse locked the door behind them as she got out.

After passing a few doors on the hallway, the woman stopped and said 'This is my office. '

It was nice. It has a big light green desk in the middle, a bed and the usual big windows. The office felt fresh and light just like the owner.

Denisa walked inside and set on the chair near the desk while the woman looked out the window. She noticed on the desk a small nameplate with Lillian Espinoza carefully written on it. _So that's her name._

Anyway, she decided that it was time to focus on researching, not minor things. She opened the file and the first page was almost identical to the one from the police station. This particular one also had the name of the team which was assigned to do the research.

Denisa recognized the first name, Meredith Fell, but the other three were unknown. She started to read the first guy's report, but was interrupted by Lillian's voice.

'I don't have time to spend because I have to be at the main counter, but I could ask someone to come stay with you.'

Denisa thought about the possibilities, maybe she could get to talk to one of the three doctors in person. 'It would be very helpful if you could get someone from the crew listed in this file.'

Lillian looked at the list closely, thinking if she had seen one of them that particular day. Remembering one familiar face she said 'I can get David to come.'

Denisa nodded and added a 'Thank you' as the nurse got out the door.

_Why do I need to be supervised anyway? _She sighed. _At least it gives me an advantage. _

Anyway, returning to the report she noticed it wasn't very different from the one before: it explained the burns and the other researches. However nearly the end of it, there was mentioned that his neck was broken and also that he was asleep or unconscious. There was listed a long explanation as to why, but bottom line was that he wasn't awake.

That peaked Denisa's interest. It wasn't the fact that he wasn't awake, but the fact that his neck was broken. Who uses to break the necks of the prey? _Vampires. _

She started to read the second report and she soon realized that it sounded the same when it came to the burns part. However, what made Denisa smirk was the fact that in the second report was also present the broken neck and that he was unconscious.

Denisa was so caught up in the report that she didn't notice a tall man entering the room. He silently took a sit on the chair next to her. He didn't want to disturb her reading.

Although, when he sees her smirk he finally says 'Hello Miss., I am David. Lillian told me you were reading some reports for Jeremy Gilbert's case.'

Denisa turned her head to look at him a little surprised. She was so caught up in everything that she forgot that David was supposed to come.

'Yes, that's true. I just finished the second report.' She said as she looked at him. He wore a long white robe as any other doctor would. He had messy light brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes. Denisa had to confess, he didn't look too bad.

They were staring into each other's eyes, waiting for someone to break the silence. Denisa looked away and back at the report and asked 'Who writes the report for the police station?'

David responded in his sweet calm voice 'I and the other two guys write a report and the crew's leader takes them and writes another report based on them. That's the one that gets sent.'

_So this means that Meredith could change anything she wanted like, for example, exclude the other main important parts._ That got Denisa raise a brow; she was protecting the vampires, there can't be any other possibility.

'What can you tell me about Meredith Fell?' She asked hoping to get more information in order to sustain her theory.

David smiled and answered her question, even though he didn't know her too well. 'She is a member of one of the founding families: Fell, Salvatore, Bennett, Forbes and Gilbert. She is a very ambitious doctor and she loves her job.' He took a small pause before he excused himself 'I am sorry, but I don't know much about her.'

Denisa smiled in response as if saying 'It's okay'.

Deciding that she got all the information she needed she wanted to leave, but not before looking at the last report. This one was different; it was shorter and more organized.

However, before she got the chance to start reading it David said 'That's my report. It refers to the level of burns on his body, the broken neck and the unconsciousness present when the accident happened.'

Denisa was surprised that he would offer to resume the report for her; probably he noticed she was in a hurry. 'Thank you for giving me a short resume, I really need to leave.' She said while getting up from the chair.

'It's my pleasure, if you need anything else, you know where to come.' David said while giving her the same flirty smile.

This guy was creeping her up so she quickly said 'Goodbye' and walked out the door. _Okay… I don't want to see him again._

It wasn't long before she found herself in her car ready to go to the hotel. The hospital was much easier to navigate than the police station.

* * *

Arriving at the hotel, Denisa headed straight for the bed in her room. She just wanted to lay back and think about all the puzzle pieces she had found today. The puzzle pieces which will lead to the truth about Jeremy's death.

The first thing that crossed her mind was the conversation she had with David about Meredith. He didn't tell her much, but there was something very important in what he said, but she couldn't make up what.

_Meredith is a member of one of the founding families: Fell, Salvatore, Forbes, Bennett and Gilbert. _His voice still remained fresh in her memory. Founding families… Fell, Salvatore, Forbes, Bennett, Gilbert, where did she hear those names before?

Denisa took a look at the copy of Jeremy's file. She stopped at the contacts' page and noticed three of the listed names: Salvatore, Forbes and Gilbert. The doctor's name was Fell, but who was named Bennett?

Taking a few seconds of thinking, Addison voice suddenly appeared in her mind_ Mr. Bennett isn't a bad person, he's just…_ Bennett was the new mayor.

After a few minutes of focusing on trying to find a connection between all of the names, everything finally clicked. Jeremy was a Gilbert and he died. His sister was in a relationship with a Salvatore and when he died, she immediately went to them. Doctor Fell protected their secret by excluding the broken neck in the report. Sheriff Forbes never ordered for a team to hunt the 'animals', because she was 'busy' and Mayor Bennett never brought the subject up.

_And all of those are founding families._

Denisa smirked, pleased to finally make the connection. It was already confirmed that the vampires existed in Mystic Falls, by the excessive amount of animal attacks. However, she didn't except for the founders' families to know about that as well and by the looks of it, they are the only one that do.

_Dear founding families, looks like your secret isn't as secretive anymore. _

Having that cleared out of her mind, she could finally focus on other problems. Lisa said that the animal attacks were always present, but recently it got worse. Also in the same time period a new mayor was chosen. What could have he done to make the vampires in town act so aggressive?

First of all, what causes a vampire to be aggressive? When someone is hurt they act aggressive, but she figured out that whatever he did couldn't hurt vampires directly because that would mean someone was shooting bullets at them all the time. However, that would be too obvious and would scare people off.

He probably did it in an indirect way, but what? She stood there, in her mind crossing a lot of things that could hurt vampires, but sadly they were all in the direct route. Then, it suddenly hit her. _Hunger!_

_Hmm…I wonder…_ She thought as she got up from her bed and went to the kitchen. For some reason they included kitchens for the very expensive rooms. They weren't anything fancy, but good enough to boil some water for tea and such. She took a small pot and put some water from the sink in it. She put it on the oven and let it boil.

Denisa was sure that the temperature that it takes for vervain to boil is different than the water's. Vevain is found in a plant's leaves and it plays a great role in its life. Water is present too, but it disappears quicker due to high temperature. That's why plants need to be watered often because they lose water easy. That being said, it means that vervain evaporates harder than the water.

So Denisa waited and waited for a long 30 minutes. After the time past she went and looked into the pot and smirked at the sight. The water gained a greenish color, like vervain; it wasn't very obvious, but it was still there.

Before, when the water was transparent, it meant that the molecules of H2O were more present than the ones for vervain and that's why it was uncolored. However when the watered boiled, some of the H2O molecules evaporated in such way that vervain is more present, giving it a greenish color.

Denisa was proud of herself for finding out such secret and that things got even clearer.

She took a look on the clock on the wall and decided that she still had time to go researching on 'the field'. If there was anyone who knew more stuff than the people listed on the contact list, there were Jeremy's friends. Of course she wanted to talk to his sister too, but not before gaining some information from a neutral source.

* * *

After what seems like a long time, Denisa was done dressing up. She wanted to go with the simple, laid back but still elegant look. That was the look Denisa wore when she was with Jeremy in Denver so she had plenty of that kind of clothes.

She wore a simple black tank top and some short light blue jeans. Along with that she added a pair of black leather booties. All her clothes fitted together, creating a perfect, innocent look.

Her make-up was basically the same only that it had been freshened up. Her curly hair was still caught up in a high pony tail. However, there was a big change that would guarantee her that she would go unnoticed by the people who recognized 'Denisa Downright'.

Denisa wore some lenses which turned her dark brown eyes into some adorable light green. She loved the color when she picked it up in the shop. The reason why she bought them was to be able to get around people in case she didn't to be recognized as the big, great detective. She never left home without them, no matter what she was doing.

She made her way to her car, happy to be able to walk around in the comfortable clothes and not worry about anyone who she didn't want to be seen by.

Denisa got into her car and started to drive towards a place called 'Mystic Grill'. It was the only bar she had seen while driving around the town.

By the time she got there it was 8:00 PM and the sun was already gone. She parked her car close to it and started to walk towards it.

As Denisa entered it, she saw a lot of action going on inside. _Looks like the hotspot… _She picked a table and soon enough a waiter came by to take her order. She didn't want to get drunk so she just picked a simple lemonade. The waiter was a tall boy with sky-like eyes and blond hair. He was wearing a blue T-shirt with the bar's logo on it and some black pants. She had to admit, the uniform suited him.

It didn't take long enough for her lemonade to arrive brought by the same blond waiter. He looked young and she started to wonder if he knew Jeremy.

Drinking her lemonade, the only thing she was thinking about was who should be the first person she should ask about Jeremy. Her eyes trailed over the people at the grill. Most of them were young, but some adults were still present there, drinking their sorrows away.

Eventually, someone catches her eye. She looked at him only to realize that he was the guy in one of the pictures Addison gave her. He had lighter hair, so he must be Stefan, Elena's boyfriend. However, he wasn't alone. Near him sit another dude with black hair, which Denisa could only assume that was his brother, Damon.

Biting her lip she decided that she wouldn't get another opportunity like that to talk to them. So she got up and let some money on the table enough to pay for the drink and as well as a generous tip.

Denisa started to make her way to the boys, not knowing what to expect next…

* * *

**A/N: The ending is such a tease, I know! **

**The reason why this chapter is so long it's because I really wanted to get the research out of the way because that it's kind of the last time Denisa will spend a whole chapter not interacting with any of the main characters.**

**Also I want to apologize for being one day late, but it really took a lot of time to write this one.**

**As always, a review brings a smile on my face and a happy writer makes better stories.**


	4. Chapter 3 Cocky

**A/N: Sorry for missing an update! I was just so caught up in my Spanish lessons and the fact that the exam was this Friday that I couldn't write anything. The good news is that I passed the exam. There before writing the chapter didn't take too much.**

**I just need to put this out there. I am ****not**** going to give up on this fan fiction. No matter the views, reviews or how busy I am. I will continue it until the story's finished.**

**Okay, now that we got that out of the way, here's the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. The story idea and my original character are mine however.**

* * *

Researching is never fun, especially when you have an annoying blond following you around. When they managed to caught the vampire which could lead them to Katherine, Damon had to kill him, because Will was his friend. If Rebekah would have given him Klaus' blood then he would have been forced to talk and probably Katherine would have found out. Damon was sure that the crazy bitch would have tortured and killed him. Damon was only doing him a favor.

That's what Damon has been doing the whole day, only to find himself at the Grill because Stefan wanted to talk. As he arrived there he looked around, only to find Stefan at the bar enjoying a drink.

Damon made his way over to him and before he got to comment on his drinking habit, Stefan said 'Took you long enough, Damon.'

Damon took a seat next to him and responded 'Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was _searching_ for Katherine.' He looked over to his brother's drink and soon noticed it wasn't what he usually got. The smell indicated that it was Vodka which made Damon wonder if something happened.

He added in a sarcastic voice 'What are you doing here anyway? Weren't you supposed to stay with Elena and make sure she doesn't feed anymore?'

Stefan sighed and looked at his brother. _Even if he doesn't admit it, he's a little worried._ 'She wanted some space.'

At that response, Damon only wanted to punch his brother in the face. 'How stupid can you be to let her alone at the house?' he said, his voice giving away his anger.

Stefan assumed he would get such a response to his answer. Damon was being protective, as protective as he would have been if he and Elena would still be together. Stefan wasn't blinded by his love for Elena anymore, he could think clearly. And he thought that there wasn't any danger in leaving Elena alone at the house.

However he pulled his telephone out of his pocket and went to the application 'Find my friends'. The application was telling exactly what Stefan told Damon, that Elena was at the boarding house.

That wasn't enough for Damon though, so he said in response 'That doesn't mean anything. It only points to where her phone is. She could have just let it there.' He wanted to add a sarcastic 'That's so smart of you Stefan!' but stopped when Stefan pulled out of his pocket a lapis lazuli ring. Instead of that he said 'You are a sneaky one, aren't you?'

Stefan smiled in response, putting the ring back where it belonged. Damon noticed how silent Stefan was, so he said 'How come you're so silent?'

Waiting for Stefan to answer, Damon signed to the barman to come and give him a drink. He asked for his usual bourbon.

'She is throwing a party Damon…. A party!' Stefan said in an aggravated tone. 'She is supposed to grief, not throw a party after her brother died a few days ago…' His was showing his emotions and he didn't mind; they were real: he didn't like the situation at all.

'I'm starting to regret this no-humanity decision we made.' Stefan said pausing for a minute. Damon didn't have any response to that, he could have said that he was the one who made the decision, not Stefan. But he didn't.

'Anyway, how did the search go?' Stefan added in a rush to change the subject.

Relieved by the change of subject he said 'The vampire who had all the information is dead.' It was true; however he had a clue where to search next. He didn't want to tell Stefan in case some Barbie Klaus was eavesdropping.

Stefan sighed and started to say a 'that's not…' but stopped. Damon wondered why Stefan had such a change of heart, so he followed his gaze and looked to his right. Sure enough, near him stood a tall brunette about 1,70 m with piercing light green eyes. She wasn't looking at him, but at Stefan.

Denisa's heart was beating faster as she got closer to them. She didn't doubt that they were the people she was looking for, but it still didn't stop the situation from coming up as weird because a random stranger trying to talk to someone about the things she wanted to talk about was just awkward

What made the situation even more awkward was that as soon as she came near the counter, they suddenly stopped talking, remarking her presence.

Taking a deep breath, she said 'Are you Elena Gilbert's boyfriend?' However, before Damon got to say a proud 'Yes', the girl added 'Stefan Salvador?'

Damon rolled his eyes and replied with an annoyed voice 'It's Salvatore. It is Italian, not Spanish.' The response got Denisa's attention because she turned her head and looked at him straight in his _beautiful_ _light blue _eyes. She wanted to punch that cockiness out of his ego, but that would ruin her cover.

_So that's what's so special about him…_

Stefan noticed them looking at each other, so to break the silence he said in a polite voice 'Yeah, I am Stefan, is there a problem?' Damon almost wanted to roll his eyes at his change of behavior. _I guess a random stranger is just what he needs to lighten up._

Denisa stopped looking at Damon and said 'I want to talk to Elena.'

Damon was annoyed at the girl's ambiguity. _Be more precise, damn it! _He never even recalled Elena having a friend like her and now that he thinks about it, he never saw her before in Mystic Falls.

'What do you want to talk to her about?' Damon said in a mocking voice.

Denisa had to restrain herself from answering with the same mocking voice, but she managed to say in an innocent tone 'I want to talk about Jeremy.' But before Damon had the chance to answer with his stupid voice, she added 'I think Jeremy was murdered.'

Both Damon and Stefan were shocked by her statement; they both thought that by the way Jeremy 'died' no one would believe he was murdered. However, before they jumped to big conclusions they had to know who that chick was.

Before Stefan got the chance to ask her with his polite voice, Damon was already saying with a sarcastic voice 'We don't even know who you are.'

Denisa took his statement as a question and answered 'I am a friend of Jeremy's, from Denver.' Denisa had to admit, she enjoyed seeing their confused faces.

Damon was honestly surprised. He barely believed Jeremy made a friend when he was with Elena in Denver and he was right, because Kol wasn't his friend, but to think he would manage to befriend a girl was even less believable. Especially when it came to such a good looking one.

'Well, Elena is not available at the moment, but you can tell us your theories.' Stefan said in an attempt to find out what the girl was thinking.

It worked because Denisa found herself saying 'The fire had to start from an electronic device and even if it was near him and he was asleep, the smoke should have woken him up.' Denisa stopped, letting what she had just said sink in and to make everything more believable she added 'Me and Jeremy… we went hiking a lot and we played baseball together, he wasn't the best athlete, but he was good.'

Denisa thought about what she had just said and it made sense in her head, but it might not be just as obvious to others. 'What I am trying to say is that he had a good condition and it's impossible for him not to have escaped the fire.'

Stefan and Damon looked at each other and nodded. Her theory was plausible enough to be heard by an officer which would lead to a lot of unnecessary work to cover up.

Damon asked 'When did you arrive in Mystic Falls?'

Denisa was quick to answer as she said 'Last night.' Her voice was soft, hoping that Damon was actually considering her theory and he wanted to hear more about it.

Damon rose from his chair and shouted to Matt who was talking to the barman 'A bottle of Jack Daniels, please.' When his co-worker wanted to head towards the costumer, Matt placed a hand on his shoulder as in 'I got this'.

Denisa was silent the whole time it took for the waiter to bring the bottle. She didn't know what he planed and it was kind of worrying her. If it came down to a fight, would she still be able to maintain her cover?

After Damon had the bottle of whisky in his hand, he said 'I want you to take this bottle, go home or to the hotel you're staying and drink _all_ of it. I want you to realize that you're theories are stupid and to let them go.' Yes, he was compelling her, but that was the easiest way out of the trouble she could bring.

It took Denisa a moment to realize what was happening, to realize that he was compelling her, to realize she was standing there, not doing anything. She grabbed the bottle out of his hand and said 'I will drink this and let go of my theories.' She hoped that the acting she put was good enough to fool the _vampires_.

But seeing Damon smirk and grab his drink from the counter gave her the confirmation she needed. She didn't stay there anymore to raise suspicions and started to make her way towards her car. She was pleased by the outcome and as she got into the car, she couldn't stop herself from smirking. _He doesn't even realize he just dug his own grave_.

Damon was watching the girl go, pleased because he managed to compel her. If she would have drunk any _vervained _water, it would have been a pain in the ass to explain his imperative voice.

When she was out of sight, Damon turned to his brother and said 'That's how you deal with a problem.' To his surprise, Stefan didn't disagree, probably because he didn't want to deal with a police problem neither.

Returning to the conversation beforehand, Stefan said 'So are you going to ask Bonnie to do a locator spell to find Katherine?'

Damon considered the idea before, but he didn't want to do it. He knew what it meant to lose someone you loved or thought you loved. Back when he found out about Katherine not being in the tomb, he didn't want to talk to anyone, he just wanted to be alone with some lovely ladies and feed. Damon doubted that Bonnie would do the last part, but still she needed time and he understood that.

'Nope, I am going to find another way.'

Stefan gave Damon weird looked, surprised by the fact that he would avoid Bonnie, especially after going out of his way to get her out of the island. He didn't get a chance to reply because his phone started buzzing for few seconds and then stopped.

He received a message from Caroline. 'What the hell is going on at the boarding house?' Now that he thought about it, he should go back and give Elena her ring before she killed anyone.

* * *

The next day, Denisa woke up excited to be able to resolve the mystery surrounding her friend, Jeremy Gilbert. She managed to find out so many things in just one short day that a fresh new day felt like too much time.

She took her time getting ready, wanting to have a perfect look for the 'field' work. She was dressed in a pair of short jeans which her a few shades darker than the ones she wore last night, a white tank top and, on top of it, a purple opened shirt. Her hair was caught in a high ponytail and she added her usual black eyeliner and mascara. Along with that she was rocking some black sandals.

However, unlike the day before, she had a purse with her where she stashed her ID, her phone, some money, a small container with vervain and the light green lenses. Denisa didn't put them straight ahead because she didn't want to risk being seen with green eyes by anyone who knew her from the hotel.

Denisa headed for the hotel's cafeteria and she soon was greeted by a waiter dressed in a grey suit. He was classy and respectable, as the hotel aspired to be. She just ordered a coffee and the waiter gave her a newspaper to look through while she was waiting.

The main article on the front page referred to the missing blood from the hospitals and some animal attacks. She wasn't interested in that so she skipped to the second page. There were listed a number of random topics in which Denisa wasn't interested at all like 'Coca-cola vs Pepsi, what is better?' or 'How to improve your motorcycle' and a lot of advertising.

_This newspaper is random… probably as random as the town._

So was shaken from her thought by the waiter coming by and dropping her coffee, some sugar and a small pot with milk. Denisa added the sugar, a small amount of milk and the vervain packed with her.

She knew that the water also had vervain in it, but she wanted to be sure no vampire would be able to compel her. That meant putting the vervain with her own hands.

She gave the newspaper another chance and skipped to the next page. It was still packed with random articles; however, there was one which caught her eye. _A loss today, a winning tomorrow!_

Denisa was interested in it because it was about the lost contest which took place yesterday; it involved a bunch of different teams of cheerleaders competing for some random prize. She didn't care about the contest, but there was a name mentioned that made her check the article out.

Caroline Forbes; she was in the town's team and apparently something went wrong into the routine and she fell on her back. There were no injuries though. The coaches watching the routine said that it was only a girl's fault because she was supposed to help the other girls catch Caroline, but instead she stepped back. The girl was later recognized by the other cheerleaders as Elena Gilbert.

Denisa wanted to laugh at how easy it was to find out stuff about the people she was researching. Also it amazed her how easy she came around the names 'Forbes' or 'Gilbert' or any other founding families. She made a mental note to go check on the cheerleaders, mainly because it was a way to contact Elena.

As soon as she finished her coffee, she didn't spend any more time doing nothing and headed for the bathroom. When the lenses were on, she headed towards her car careful not to be seen by anyone.

She drove carefully around the town focusing on the location where the witch was. It didn't take long before she got close to her house. She was happy that the witch was at her home because it made it easier to talk to her.

What disappointed Denisa though was that when she was about to park her car, she noticed Stefan carefully knocking on the door. Stefan and Damon thought that they compelled her, so sitting there would raise a lot of suspicion.

Sighing, she left the area and headed towards the Grill. It was a little too early for her to head to the high school, so that was the only other place where she could go.

* * *

Last night was hard for Stefan. He spent almost all of it awake, trying to call Damon because he believed that Elena would be with him. He wanted to talk to her. He was shocked, almost as shocked as Caroline, when she tried to kill her best friend.

When a vampire has its humanity turned off, it shows the most honest part of a person. That didn't mean that it showed the real you though. It just meant that if normal Elena would have gotten as angry at Caroline as she did yesterday, and she wouldn't feel any remorse, she would have kicked her ass or, even worse, tried to kill.

Stefan was worried. He never thought that Elena would restrain such a big amount of anger inside of her. But he couldn't blame her. After all the bad things that happened to her, how could had she just remain the same girl? The anger she felt on herself, on the brothers or on Klaus had to go somewhere, somewhere deep in her heart.

_The switch only made it rise to the surface._

Stefan always thought that even at her darkest point she would still remain as innocent. He mistook. He underestimated her and he would never do that again. However, Damon didn't know that, hence his desperate need to get in touch with his brother.

_Speaking of underestimating…._

Last night he also realized how childish he acted. Mystic Falls was their town; they shouldn't just let some random vampire do his worst. He was so caught up with his worries that he almost forgot that, unlike Liz.

Stefan was about to fix that though, he was going to find the vampire and teach him a lesson. That was why he found himself in front of Bonnie's house, knocking on the door. If there was someone who could find people fast, that was her.

He waited a few more seconds; he could hear voices speaking inside. However, he didn't want to intrude in Bonnie's personal space, so he just looked around, trying to focus on other things.

It wasn't that hard when he listened to birds' chirp or the small sound of the leaves when the wind blew. Those were such little things that, as a human being, they would go unnoticed.

_Guess being a vampire has its perks…_

Stefan was interrupted from his deep thought by a car passing by. It was a C70 grey Volvo. However, it wasn't the car that interested him, but the owner. He could swear that he was a girl with some light green eyes, like the one Damon compelled.

He shrugged it off. _She was probably trying to find a restaurant or something and she got lost in the town. _

'Stefan?' He heard a crystalline voice call for his name. Sure enough, Bonnie opened the door and motioned him to come inside.

They went to the living room and she took a seat on one of the couches, the opposite from where Professor Shane was sitting.

'Is there something wrong Stefan?' She asked, holding her breath. She guessed something happened, but for the first time in a long time, she hoped that Stefan came by only to say 'Hi!' She wasn't in control, her magic was unpredictable.

'Someone has been stealing all the blood from the hospital; I want you to do a locator spell, so we can track the vampire.' Stefan explained and looked at Bonnie's puzzled face.

He was about to ask what was wrong, but she cut him to it. 'I can't do the spell Stefan, my magic isn't in control. On top of that, it doesn't work like that; I need one of the vampire's possessions.'

Bonnie wanted to help, she really did, but putting a lot of lives at risk while doing so wasn't her style. The locator spell was an easy one, but Expression could turn the simplest spell in a disaster. She couldn't do any spell until she had it in control.

Stefan sighed 'Thank you anyway.' He was about to leave, but stopped to ask her. 'What is he doing here?'

Bonnie looked at Stefan straight in the eyes as she said 'Shane is helping me with my magic.' She lied him straight in the face, but by the look Stefan gave her, he bought it.

He turned around to leave and Bonnie walked him to the door. He said a whispered 'Goodbye' and went on his way.

_Should I even be disappointed that he didn't ask me how I feel? _Bonnie thought, but she shut that thought away along with the door.

* * *

Stefan went back at the boarding house and poured himself a drink. Bonnie couldn't help him and Damon was still ignoring his calls.

He put the glass of vodka down and tried to call another time. He expected the robot to answer again, but this time it was Damon's voice on the other side of the line.

'Damon, where are you? Where's Elena?' He asked quickly as if he feared Damon would end the call.

When Damon answered 'New York', he thought he was going to punch something. What Damon did was reckless and it could only end badly.

'What do you mean you took her to New York?'

Stefan's voice was probably giving away his anger, because Damon said 'And that tone is the reason why I didn't pick up the phone the first twenty times you called.'

Damon's sarcasm was only making him angrier. However he took a deep breath and asked 'Where is Elena now?'

His brother answered in a more cheerful tone than what he expected. 'Out, exploring. Maybe she's eating a hot-dog…. vender.'

Stefan's anger was growing because of Damon's way to make things look so casual. 'So I take it you're search for Katherine is over.'

Damon went through the pain of explaining him about Will and how he got vampires fake identities. He was expecting Stefan to act that way, but he would have liked it if he would have trust him more.

They talked a little more about how Elena didn't want the cure or how he shouldn't underestimate her. Stefan's voice and demands started to annoy Damon and he was just about to shut the telephone, but stopped when he heard Stefan say 'I've been at Bonnie's today.'

That got his attention because he knew it was probably for a spell. Stefan was a good guy, but he needed to open his eyes and see that Bonnie was just not having a hot time. It was true that he demanded the little witch's magic more than a few times and most of them at bad moments, but there was a limit to everything.

'I asked her to do a locator spell to find the vampires that have been stealing the blood, but she said she couldn't.' Damon knew his brother would tell him why and as expected Stefan continued 'Her magic is out of control; I think Shane is helping her with it. He was there today.'

Damon doubted that Shane would be able to do much, but suddenly he realized something. 'Stefan, Shane is dead.' At least that was what Rebekah told him and she had to reason to lie.

_If Shane is with Bonnie, then that could mean only one thing… _Damon thought before he said 'Silas is manipulating Bonnie.'

Damon could hear Stefan trying to say something through the phone, but he spotted Elena coming towards him, so he cut it short. 'Take care of Silas. I gotta go.'

He closed the phone and when Elena asked him if something was wrong, he just brushed it off with a simple 'Everything's fine.'

_Oh man… this is going to be the best trip of my life._

Stefan sighed as he heard the telephone beep. If Damon was going to get in trouble, he would have to leave Mystic Falls and try to help him. Leaving a town with a murderous old vampire wasn't the best idea.

They needed to get information and the only way they could was through Shane's office. It wasn't safe to go alone though, so he called the number he thought he would never call again.

'Klaus here, what can I do for you Stefan?'

* * *

The Grill was as full of life as ever. Students and young adults, they were all enjoying their drinks and each other companies. Denisa wasn't completely sure if the students finished their classes for the day or if they ditched them. Either way, she was happy to see that even after so many deaths, the city managed to be life full.

Denisa's eyes scanned the area for a table and when she spotted a free one, she went for it. It didn't take long until a waiter came by to ask for her order. She just wanted a simple breakfast, so she asked for the day's specialty.

The food arrived as fast as a blink of an eye. It was just a simple salad with some boiled eggs. She liked it and started to eat.

When she finished her meal, she got up from the table and went to the bar. She wanted to drink something and doing it alone at a table made it seem like she was expecting someone.

Denisa ordered a glass of grey goose vodka, but not before telling the bartender that she ordered a breakfast. She wasn't so big on alcohol, but she figured out that if she wasn't going to talk to the witch today, she might as well do something fun. A lonely girl at a bar, drinking seemed like one of the easiest way to attract teenage boys.

The technique worked, because a boy tried to make a conversation with her. She was expecting a boy dressed in a jacket or something, but she had to stop herself from showing her shock when the bartender started to talk to her.

'Hello there. I am sorry to interrupt you.'

He seemed like such a good guy, especially with those baby blue eyes. Now that she thought about it, that was the waiter that served Damon when he asked for some Jack Daniels. She hadn't gotten around to starting the bottle, but with all the drama that was going on around her, that wouldn't be the case for too long.

'Are you a friend of Damon or Stefan?' He asked in a curious voice. He knew something was up last night when Damon asked for that bottle and he wanted to find out what. He got very lucky with finding the girl, but it wasn't that hard to recognize her because of her light green eyes.

Denisa shook her head. 'No. All I know is that Stefan is Elena's boyfriend.'

Out of all the answers he could had had received, that wasn't one of them. Especially when Damon is the one Elena's dating. 'Are you new here?'

Denisa smiled, getting into the game. 'Is it that obvious?'

He wanted to laugh at her tone, but managed to say 'No, but I never saw you around before. I'm Matt, by the way.'

He extended his arm over the counter and Denisa shook it as she said 'I'm Denisa.'

Matt retrieved his arm and started to arrange some glasses as he spoke. 'So what brings you here in Mystic Falls?'

Denisa bit her lip and took a deep breath. There was a big part of her that was hoping that Matt would know Jeremy. He was a really cool guy and she could get information easily out of him.

'One of my friends died. I don't know if you know him. His name was Jeremy Gilbert.'

Matt's heart skipped a beat at her answer. He still wasn't over Jeremy's death and to see that people started to gather for his funeral only made things more real.

'I know him. We were… really good friends.' Matt said and their gaze met for a second, but they immediately looked away from each other. Matt added in a more sad tone 'Are you here for his funeral?'

Denisa looked down at her feet, ashamed about what she was just about to say. 'I came by to visit him, to surprise him… Turns out, I am the one surprised.'

Matt was saddened by what he had just heard_. The poor girl probably doesn't even know about supernatural; she probably wasn't expecting Jeremy to die. _

Out of respect and care, he said 'You can come with me if you want. The funeral is this Saturday.'

She smiled, really happy because Matt was the first person that she could talk to about the loss. She felt devastated when she found out and poor Matt wouldn't even get the chance to know the truth.

Denisa looked at him straight in the eyes and she could see how his mood lightened up. The fact that Jeremy died was horrible, but when you have someone to communicate to, things get easier.

However, the fact that the funeral was on Saturday alarmed her. She had only a few days to find out what happened. She asked one of her friends to check and see if Stefan's phone number that she had was really working and until that moment, she still didn't get a response.

Matt and Denisa spent nearly a whole hour talking about Jeremy and the things they used to do together. She told him about the first time they went hiking and how he joked around about being attacked by a bear. She also told him about Jeremy's horrible aim at baseball and darts.

He told her about how they sometimes would smoke together. Denisa seemed like an ok person, so he didn't feel bad when he revealed that secret .She was pretty shocked a moment though, but she just laugh it off. He also told her about how Jeremy used to date his sister and that he was terribly sad when she died.

They just spend time together, laughing and having a great time. Matt didn't think that a stranger could make him feel so much better.

They had so much fun that Matt felt bad for having to end it, but he hated slacking off at his job. 'I am sorry to say that, but you are distracting me Denisa. I have work to do.'

Denisa understood that and she was gradually happy that he spent even that amount of time with her. Sure she didn't obtain much information, but as soon as she would get closer to him, she would.

Even though he was planning on getting back to work, it looked like fate had other plans for them. His statement about working was overheard by one of his friends. He offered to do his shift instead, saying that Matt deserved to feel better after the horrific news.

They were both surprised by the outcome and Matt asked her if she wanted to hang out some more. Sitting at the grill when he was supposed to work wasn't right, so he figured out that the best place to hang out would be in a park. However, he couldn't go out with his work clothes so they had to pass by his house before.

He knew it would come up as very straight forward but he asked her if she wanted to come by his house because he had to change clothes. She was hesitant at first because she wasn't used to that kind of hospitality. It didn't take too long for her to come around and agree.

Matt didn't have a car and he felt weird because he made the girl take a bus when he asked her to hang out. It seemed very ungentlemanly-like.

'We are going to take the bus and go for two stations.'

Denisa didn't like buses that much, especially when she had her own car. 'We can take my car. You just have to give me some directions.'

They both agreed that that was the best solution and Denisa motioned to Matt to follow her. When they finally got to the car, Matt failed to hide his shock and Denisa probably noticed it, so he just said. 'You have a nice car.'

They hopped into the car and Matt gave her some directions, but not before she thanked him for the compliment. His house wasn't very far so they should be there soon.

Denisa didn't think about breaking the silence, but when she heard Matt laugh, she couldn't help but ask why he was laughing.

'I just thought about what you told me when we met.' Matt realized he was a little vague, so he added. 'You said that you only know that Stefan is Elena's boyfriend, which is not true. She is dating Damon.'

Denisa started laughing as well. She should have been frustrated that Addison informed her wrong, but the fact that she called Damon's brother Elena's boyfriend was hilarious.

'You aren't completely wrong though. She used to date Stefan, now she's dating Damon.' Matt had stopped laughing by then, but the affirmation only made Denisa laugh harder.

_So that's why he was so pissed off last night_ Denisa thought. A part of her was surprised that she dated both brothers, but by the fact that they were spending time together, it meant it didn't drive them apart. Denisa couldn't blame Elena either, there were worst things you could do to drive brothers apart.

'So why didn't you want to hang out at the grill? Afraid that your girlfriend might see as together?' She was teasing him, but she didn't care.

Matt was surprised by her playful side and he answered with the same playful tone. 'No, I don't want to be caught slacking off. And the girl that likes me isn't in town.'

'Seriously? What's her name?' It wasn't one of the topics she would usually discuss when she first meets a person, but she gave it a go anyway.

He was debating on whatever he should tell her or not, but if Rebekah saw them together, she would flip. It was safer for her to know. 'Rebekah. She is a tall blonde with light blue eyes. You can recognize her easily by her very formal sense of style.'

She wanted to respond in a teasing way, but she didn't get the chance because they arrived at his house. She parked the car and as they made their way towards the door Denisa was debating on whatever she should or not test his supernatural knowledge.

Matt opened the door and walked inside. He expected her to do the same, but he was shocked when he heard her say 'Aren't you going to invite me in?'

The question echoed in Matt's mind and only then he realized the danger he was in. The girl was a vampire. She probably was looking for a meal. They would be alone. In his house. Matt did the only thing he could think off: he shut the door in the girl's face and locked it.

Denisa was about to say something, but Matt interrupted her by yelling through the door an imperative 'Leave!'

She didn't stay much on though and just went to her car. She got the confirmation she needed. Matt knew about supernatural. _So that makes the chances Jeremy knew even bigger._

Then Denisa decided to go check on the cheerleaders. There was no way she could get Matt out of his house anyway. As she drove towards the school, she wondered if vampires hurt Matt or his family before. He mentioned that his sister died. Was she murdered by a vampire or was it just a simple accident?

On the way to the destination, she received a message from her dear friend. _The call has been made. That's Stefan Salvatore who was talking. XOXO _At least, that went smother.

She drove around the town for a bit and it didn't take her long to stumble across the high school. After parking her car, she was contemplating whatever she should ask someone where the cheerleaders practiced or if she should just look for them herself.

She came to the conclusion that if the cheerleaders weren't on the field, she would go ask a professor or something. The field was close to where she parked her car, so it didn't take long for her to get there. She guessed right, the cheerleaders were there stretching and dancing.

Denisa came closer to them and a regular light brown-haired girl dressed in a red tank top and some short shorts came to great her. 'Hi! How can I help you?' She sure wasn't lacking the energy required to be a cheerleader. _Or the volume._

'I heard about you from the newspaper. I am new here and I would like to see some great cheerleaders in action. Are you Caroline Forbes?' She asked but when the girl shook her head, she thought in a sarcastic voice _That would have been far too easy, right?_

'I am Bailey. She isn't here at the moment, but I think you can stay and watch our practice. It wouldn't disturb anyone.' She said her voice being way too excited for something so small.

'You know I think that it is only right for us to finally get noticed. We put a lot of work into our routines.' Bailey said, before closing her eyes as if she was thinking about something very profound. Denisa wanted to question what it was, but Bailey's enthusiastic voice beat her to it. 'Hmm… I think that on that article was also mentioned Elena Gilbert…. Yeah, she and Caroline were the only ones. She also isn't here if you wanted to talk to her…'

Denisa nodded and took a sit on a small bench. That girl had so much energy; she didn't want to put up with that anymore. She sighed. The day started out so good and it ended so badly. Stefan was also visiting the witch, Matt shut the door in her face and neither Caroline nor Elena were nowhere to be seen.

_I shouldn't have been so cocky…_

She spent the rest of the day watching the cheerleaders bounce around and after the practice was over, she went to the hotel.

* * *

Stefan's day hadn't gone so hot either. He just got home from dropping the girls at Bonnie's house. He asked Klaus to help him find out what Silas was planning and Caroline tagged along. They found out about the expression triangle and because Silas was talking to Bonnie in the morning, they decided to check the points.

He went alone to one and Klaus and Caroline to the other. Caroline insisted that she would go with Klaus because she didn't want to let Bonnie's life in his hands. Stefan was positive that Klaus wouldn't hurt her, so he didn't object.

He was the one to find the right spot. The small clearing was filled with witches and Bonnie was being 'purified' by them. He was still guilty that, because of him, the witches found out that Silas was manipulating Bonnie.

When the main witch performing the ritual pulled out a knife, his body stopped responding. He couldn't move or do anything to save Bonnie. However, Caroline arrived and she made the big decision of killing the twelve witches.

Stefan felt miserable that he didn't do anything to help his friend -a friend that would do anything for them if they asked- and that he let Caroline carry the burden of killing so many people. When she first killed that man at the carnival, he promised her he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

He broke his promise and probably proved to Bonnie that he didn't give two shits about her. It was a terrible night. He poured himself a glass of vodka and took a sit on the couch.

Suddenly, he heard the door open and Matt came running to him. He looked scared and it made Stefan wonder how worse things could get.

He left Matt steady his breath out and eventually he asked 'Is there something wrong?'

Matt answered quickly 'You know that girl that you and Damon talked to last night?' He took a deep breath as he ran out of air. Stefan nodded and he continued. 'I've spend some time together with her today. She's a vampire.'

Stefan gave him a weird look and asked 'And why do you think that?'

Matt took another deep breath and said 'We went to my home and when I entered my house she asked me if I am not going to invite her in.'

Stefan nodded. Matt was probably right. He would had left that kind of behavior pass as normal before, but not with Silas running around the town and his new understanding of not underestimating people.

Stefan wanted to tell Matt about the weird call he received today, but he felt his phone buzz one time, meaning he received a message. The call was from an unknown number and he asked numerous times if someone was on the phone, he also said his name, but despite his efforts, all he could hear was silence. He eventually gave up and closed the call, claiming that it was just a mistake.

Stefan took the phone out of his pocket and the first thing he noticed was that the message was also from an unknown number. He couldn't recall if it was the same number which previously called him, but he let that though slide as his eyes glanced over the text.

It read: _Veronica species._

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter is done!**

**So, just to clarify some things. Stefan in my story is a little bit more responsive to the actions that go around. I am not going to write in scenes that were on the show and have nothing changed to them. So what happened between Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie and Klaus was exactly what happened on the show. What happened between Damon, Elena and Rebekah is exactly what happened on the show. (4x17)**

**Also about the 'Veronica species' at the end, that is going to be explained in the next chapter. It is a name in latin of a plant. If you google it you will find pictures.**

**It's going to be a little weird for a few more chapters because there's the transition from the original plot to Denisa joining it. But hopefully we get through that period and things get to be awesome.**

**Thank you for reading this chapter! And I am sorry if I made any of you think I gave up on the story, that's definitely not the case. **

**So what do you think about this chapter? Did you like how I wrote Damon, Stefan or any other character? Do you have any tips or advices? Tell me in a review! :)**


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